Harry Kane and Romelu Lukaku provide no answers to owners’ striking questions

At least they’ll always have Leicester. Even while they celebrated Wednesday’s sensational come-from-behind victory at the King Power, sensible Spurs fans – and their manager – knew it was most likely to be remembered as a joyous freak occurrence rather than the start of a new era.

In the excitement, that win was compared to Spurs’ magnificently ludicrous triumph over Ajax in the 2019 Champions League semi-final and it is true that the matches have similarities. Both created thrilling, enduring memories from improbable situations; and both were followed by monumental no-shows.

Not that Tottenham were as flat at Stamford Bridge as they were against Liverpool in the Champions League final, but they did emit comparable signs of a team in need of renewal. Antonio Conte already knew that, just as Mauricio Pochettino did three years ago. The Italian will hope that this, his team’s third comprehensive defeat by Chelsea in a month, will convince the club that appointed him nearly three months ago to allow him to buy more quality.

At Stamford Bridge, though, there was also further evidence that avoiding the transfer market can be a shrewd policy. At the start of the season Harry Kane and Romelu Lukaku were tipped to vie for the golden boot. Instead they have spent most of the campaign unwittingly serving as poster boys for prudence.

So far Manchester City can feel smug about not agreeing to pay north of £120m for Kane’s services, while Lukaku’s performances since his £97.5m return to Chelsea have generally been an advertisement for focusing on youth.

Lukaku, like Kane, has five league goals to his name this season, the same number that the 20-year-old Armando Broja has struck for Southampton while on loan from Chelsea. Tammy